This invention relates generally to an ice piece ejection mechanism for icemakers. In particular it relates to an icemaker with a mold that forms the ice pieces into crescent shaped pieces usually joined together by a thin web of ice and is an improvement upon the ejection mechanism of such an icemaker. Automatic icemakers of this type usually have an underlying bin into which the ice pieces fall when harvested from the icemaker mold. To prevent over filling the bin, the icemaker has a feeler arm which may be periodically lowered into the bin and raised to an elevated position. During each cycle of the icemaker the feeler arm is lowered and if it strikes ice pieces preventing it from reaching its lower position a switching arrangement prevents harvesting the ice pieces until the feeler arm can subsequently reach its lower position. In icemakers of the type involved it is desirable to eject the ice pieces from the crescent cube icemaker so that they fall further from the icemaker in lateral distance this prevents ice piece build up directly under the mold. It is also desirable that the ice pieces fall in a manner to maximize impact breakup of the thin webs of ice joining the ice pieces together. This allows for better operation of any automatic ice piece dispenser associated with the icemaker and the ice pieces ejected therefrom. Users of the ice pieces also prefer that they be in individual pieces. It is further desirable that the ice pieces fall into an underlying storage bin after the feeler arm of the icemaker is fully raised thus preventing later raising of the feeler arm causing ejected ice pieces to be pushed out of the storage bin during that motion.
The icemaker to which the present invention specifically relates is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,225 and one of the ways of ejecting ice pieces from such an icemaker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,516. The problem with the ejecting means of U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,516 is that it actually uses a section of the feeler arm to retain the ice pieces until the feeler arm is raised. When released the ice pieces just slide into the bin and therefore have little tendency to break apart. In addition, the feeler arm has a complicated shape which makes it relatively expensive to manufacture and not well suited to various icemaker and dispensor arrangements.
By this invention the ice pieces being ejected from a crescent icemaker are delivered to an underlying storage bin such that they fall further from the icemaker in lateral distance than heretofore and they tumble end over end into the storage bin thus maximizing the force to aid in breaking the web between the ice pieces being ejected from the icemaker. Further with this invention the ice pieces are delayed in their ejection from the icemaker into the storage bin thus allowing time for the feeler arm to be in its raised position and therefore not be hampered in its operation due to the ice pieces falling on top of the feeler arm when in its down position.